Educational governance deals with the processes and practices related to education and training at various levels of education systems, especially funding, provision, ownership and regulation. The decision-making hierarchy and distribution of power from the school and community to the ministry is part of governance. With the evolution of the Right to Education as policy and national priority, the complex processes of educational planning and administration require a deeper engagement of actors and networks for the design educational policies. This course will understand these multifaceted aspects of educational governance by looking at existing stakeholders, actors, networks, administrative mechanisms and management practices that govern the education system. You will learn about the concept of decentralisation in the Indian context and its history and policies, including the socioeconomic and cultural background with the help of case studies from selected developing countries such as Latin America, Ghana, Thailand and Bangladesh. We will examine the Right to Education act and how it influences educational governance in present day India, alongside a close look at the educational functionaries working in the state and district levels.